The Depths of the Hogwarts Lake
by Majestic Waters
Summary: Ginny's backwardness is showing. She dives into the Hogwarts lake, angry and distraught that Harry hasn't realized that he is madly in love with her. Who comes to rescue her from herself, but the man of her waking dreams? A fight ensues. ONE SHOT


**The Depths of the Hogwarts Lake**

By Majestic Waters

Ginny Weasley couldn't help but feel forlorn. After all this time she thought that _**He**_ would have gotten what she was so desperately trying to communicate to him. Why did love have to be so _**blind**_?

As she walked along the banks of the lake, she thought about how happy Harry had looked, (or at least, how happy she _**thought**_ he had looked), when Cho Chang had asked him to the Hogsmeade Ho-Down. Ginny was so sure of his answer, she hadn't even stayed to find out what it was. The sky was a bright blue, and the sun was shining splendidly, marking every ripple that danced across the clear, aqua water with gold shimmers; it was quite a contrast to her stormy mood. Looking into the recesses of the deep water, Ginny let out a frustrated sigh, and turned her face and palms up to the sky. "What's the POINT of it all, anyway?" she screamed to the heavens, before diving, head first, into the lake.

Momentarily, she was disoriented, wondering why she had, on a whim, flung herself into the freezing water; had she wanted to drown herself, or had she merely wanted the numb-state that the freezing water brought on, the symbolic weightlessness of the world, which had somehow managed to begin feeling much heavier? No… Ginny reflected; she had most definitely _**not**_ wanted to kill herself. Just because Harry didn't notice her, didn't mean she wanted to waste such a grand life; her family and friends were always there for her, she was doing quite well in school, (better than Ron had ever done!), and she loved breathing the cool, Scotland air far too much to ever want to give it up. With that thought, she broke the surface of the water to suck in the crisp breeze and revel in the gloriousness of life.

"Oi!" Ginny whipped around, her drenched hair swinging 'round, and smacking her in the face. She pushed it agitatedly out of her eyes, and was rather startled and disturbed to see the object of her affections squatting down at the bank, clad in black and frowning at her. Ginny frowned right back; in her opinion, he had absolutely no right to frown at her, as he was the one to deflate her momentary, gay delirium. "Just what do you think you're doing? You're going to catch your death out here." A hint of fury crept into his voice as he scolded her, Ginny was surprised to note, as well as quite a bit of frustration. "Come on…. We're going inside." Harry held out his hand for her to take.

Ginny merely harrumphed, indignantly; he had no authority over her! He barely said 'hello' to her, even in passing, and he thought that he could just take on the role of big brother? How _**dare**_ he! But she communicated none of this to him, placating herself with a steely glare, and a sniff, and an outright, "No!" Harry's brows furrowed, as he extended his hand out further towards her.

"Come on, Gin! Why do you always have to be so stubborn?" Ginny gently floated away from his reach, willing herself not to lash out at the idiot she so adored. Stubborn? As if he even knew her at all! And unfortunately, but more embarrassingly for Ginny, she must have said this last thought out loud, for Harry recoiled rather abruptly, caressing his formerly extended hand in his other, as if it had been burned; he had a shocked expression on his face, and when Ginny saw a flash of hurt in his eyes, (Ginny could read him so well, after years of stalking, what else could it have been?), she immediately felt ashamed, though she'd meant every word.

"Come on, Harry," she sighed, "just leave me be." The fire immediately returned to his eyes, and the hand went out again.

"No. I won't just leave you like this. As your brother's a bit busy with Hermione, right now-," he paused, blushing a delicate rose, "… it's my responsibility to look after you." If he had said anything but that, Ginny might have been able to return to her happy world, but no! Her nostrils flared, and she had to shut her eyes to block out the beastly sight of him… out of sight, out of…. "It's my duty." Ginny's eyes snapped open, and without warning, she splashed him in the face, drenching him, effectively. Harry sprang up, sputtering, and shaking his head in disbelief. "Why, you…! Fine! If you won't come out yourself, I'll just have to come in and _**get**_ you!" She watched in horror as he lifted his robe over his head, revealing a black t-shirt, removed his glasses, and tossed them to the ground.

"Harry…!" He took a running jump, and easily flipped himself over her, and into the water-- she barely had a chance to dive under, to prevent herself from being splashed. She could see surprisingly clearly underwater, and she was able to see the flabbergasted expression on his face, before he popped up on the surface. When she too broke the surface, she could hear him mumbling, and cussing under his breath.

"…The devil?! Bloody freezing…!" She couldn't decide whether to yell, or laugh at him.

"Harry…" He stopped shivering for a moment, to look at her, and he did so strangely, as if seeing her in a new light.

"You must be mad. What in hell possessed you to go for a swim in the middle of February?" She glared at him. She couldn't very well tell him, "I was contemplating drowning myself because you didn't notice me, but I decided against it." What did he care, anyway? Except for the fact that he considered looking after her to be his "duty"?

"I don't know…. I just felt like a swim, I guess…." Harry sucked his teeth at her, before roughly grabbing her by her upper arm, already starting to swim away.

"Come on. We're getting out of here…." Savagely, Ginny wrenched her arm from his grasp, back pedaling underwater.

"How dare you! You have no right to treat me like a child!"

"You _**are**_ a child!" Harry attempted to grab her, again, but she continued to dance out of his reach.

"I'm a woman, if you haven't noticed! I can take care of myself, and even if I couldn't, I certainly wouldn't want _**you**_ to take care of me!"

"Just stop, Ginevra! Don't make me put a Body-Bind on you!" He managed to loop his arm through hers, but in a display of tremendous strength, she again pulled away. "Argh!" he yanked his hair in frustration, quickly abandoning it as he began to sink. Once he was floating properly, he raged at her. "You _**always**_ do this to me! Nothing can be simple! You walk around with your nose stuck up in the air; you completely ignore the ones who actually care about you! God only knows why I _**do**_ still care!" He glared at her angrily, before starting to swim away.

"Oh, no, you don't! Me? You're talking about _**me**_ being the one with my nose stuck up in the air, Mr. I'm-So-Damn-Mighty-Potter? Can't decide whether you're going to save me or slay me? Ugh! I don't ignore you! You're just too high-and-mighty to be bothered with anything that affects anyone other than yourself. Point that finger right back around, Potter, 'cause you're nose is in the damned clouds! You're disgusting!" As he had done, she began swimming in the opposite direction, when he pulled her back.

"My God, you're such a shrew! Maybe I should brush up on my Shakespeare…." He caught her hand in mid-slap, and was able to pull her struggling body close to his. "Ginny, just stop! I'm sorry I said that; I didn't mean it. You're just so crazy sometimes... I just don't know what to do with you…."

"I don't need to be tamed, you smug bastard!", she continued to struggle against his hold, but was failing, miserably. Finally, she sighed, resignedly. "Let me go, Harry," he shook his head at her, "please!", she added desperately.

"No. I'll never let you go." He looked down at her, the same strange look in his eyes, one hand moving to brush away a damp lock of her hair. Ginny began shivering in his arms, and he couldn't tell whether it was because of the freezing water, or their extreme closeness.

"Please, Harry," she pleaded once more, squeezing her eyes shut. He shook his head sadly at her, and not for the first time nor for the last, he marveled at how beautiful she looked as the sun highlighted her auburn hair and eyelashes with gold. It was such a beautiful day… if only he could open her eyes… and let her see just how beautiful it was. Without knowing that he'd made the decision to do so, he leaned down to kiss her, softly and gently, and with such longing it nearly broke the Giant Squid's heart. Ginny opened her eyes, in surprise, only to close them immediately after, and kissed him back for all she was worth. Harry groaned, pulling away abruptly, and looked down at her in wonder.

"You… kissed me back…?" Heat flamed Ginny's cheeks and neck, to the point where she was generating enough heat for the icy water to feel quite nice for both teenagers. Nevertheless, she nodded back, bowing her head in embarrassment. Smiling softly, Harry dipped his head low, tilting hers upward to look her in the eye. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about, you know. It _**was**_ rather enjoyable, after all…." Embarrassment gone, and Weasley temper in full swing, she smacked his arm, angrily.

"…Such a schmuck, Harry…" she mumbled, glaring at him. He grinned roguishly at her, before kissing her again, a little more forcefully than before.

"You know…" he panted, when he finally pulled away, "I can finally see why you'd wanted to go for a swim in the middle of February… quite refreshing, really. In fact, I rather think the lake's starting to grow on me…." Ginny pulled back from him a bit, staring at him, hard.

"I _**rather**_ think it's time to go back to the castle. You'll catch your death out here, if you stay too long… didn't you know?" She smiled innocently as Harry rolled his eyes.

Ginny swam to the bank and lifted herself out of the water, turning around to help him out. He grabbed her hand, still grinning.

"Oh! You're no fun… you old shrew." And she promptly let him fall back into the depths of the Hogwarts lake.

_A/N: Hoped you liked it! Read and Review! _


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